Page 61 of Wild Mistake
Jamie leans over and nudges my arm. “He says that like any of us come here to discuss books.”
“This is the best book club I’ve been invited to.” I grin.
“Cheers to that!” She holds up her glass to mine and we tap them against each other.
As I take a long drink, Maeve calls out Asher’s name. Before my glass is upright again, he’s there topping it off with a wink. Yeah, best book club ever.
21
AIDEN
“Oh, God! Not another one!”Jackson calls from the other end of the room. His nose crinkles at the pungent odor. “All right, who is it?”
When I agreed to help him babysit Maeve’s little ones, I vastly underrated the amount of shit would be involved. Literal shit.
“Come here, darlin’.” I reach for Lulu and pull the waistband of her diaper away from her backside to check. All clear. “Must be Collin. Unless”—I glance over at Ari, the only one of Maeve’s brood who knows how to use the toilet—“It’s little man.”
“I don’t know what to hope for.” Jackson grumbles, walking over to the baby.
Collin is sitting in the center of the room, freshly bathed, surrounded by toys and looking quite proud of himself.
“Oh, God.” Jackson gags, holding the baby away from his body. “It’s Collin.” He walks over to me. “I got the last one. This is all yours, brother.”
“Awesome.” I push myself off the floor and reach for my nephew. “Come here, bud. Let’s clean you up.”
“Careful,” Jackson warns. “It shot up the back of his jammies.”
Great. I’m careful not to get any on me as I maneuver us to the changing station in the bedroom. I don’t know how my sister does it. These kids are so much work. She’s on her own most of the week and I can’t imagine it’s easy with Alex on the road most of the time. No wonder she flew out of here as soon as Jackson and I showed up.
After cleaning Collin up, my brother and I tackle bedtime. Ari doesn’t go down easily, popping out of his room every ten minutes with a request. He’s thirsty. His room is too dark. He wants more snuggles. More water. Then his room is too bright. The poor kid is obviously struggling to turn off his brain, but I don’t blame him because while that’s happening Jackson and I take turns rocking a fussy Collin, and Lulu is demanding her “Mama!”
It's a goddamn miracle when the house is finally silent.
My brother slumps into the sofa. “I think we did it.”
I glance down the short hallway to where the cute little hellions rest. “You do this every Friday?”
“Basically.” He shrugs. “I try to recruit help. It’s good birth control.”
“Amen to that.”
A long time ago I dreamed of raising a family with Sarah. I wonder what that would have been like. Would we have made a good a team? It’s easy to romanticize the idea. After one night of babysitting I realize how much work it would have been. Part of me is kinda sad I missed out on the experience, but a larger part wonders how we would have handled that stress as a couple. We’ll never know.
I crouch and begin picking up the toys scattered around the room.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Jackson says, kicking his feet up on the coffee table and pulling out his phone. “All Maeve cares about is keeping the kids safe and alive.”
I’m sure that’s true, but I’m not about to sit on my ass and leave a mess for her. I reach for a toy ball and chuck it at Jackson. “Up, soldier.” It smacks him in the chest.
“Hey!”
“You can rest after this place meets inspection.”
“I don’t enjoy this side of you,” he grumbles, but doesn’t complain as we spend the next hour tidying up in silence. When we’re done, the kitchen sparkles and the place looks pretty damn good. If it wouldn’t wake the kids, I’d vacuum too.
“Okay, now what?” I sit next to my brother on the couch.
“Now, I figure out which hottie I’m meeting for drinks later.”
